The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord (Easter)

 The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord – April 20, 2025

Psalm 8; Job 19:23-27; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

St. Mark 16:1-20

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.[1]

The fast is over, and the feast has begun. Christ the Lord, who was slain, is risen from the dead. Alleluia! Christ has conquered sin and death, buried them in the grave, never to rise again. Alleluia! Our hope, our faith, rests on the historic reality of the resurrection of Christ. “Had Christ, who once was slain, not burst His three-day prison, our faith had been in vain: But now has Christ arisen!”[2] Alleluia!

By all measures of how we understand history, the events of the past, there can be no objection to the reality of the resurrection. Only the logic of fallen man can insist Christ did not rise. Only the sin-stained conscience can claim, “I’ve never seen someone rise from the dead, therefore Christ couldn’t have risen.”

And yet the consolation of souls does not end with the historic reality of Christ’s resurrection. We mustn’t hear the story of the resurrection in the same way we hear and understand Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Washington crossing the Delaware, or Gordon’s last stand at Khartoum. Christ did not just rise from the dead. He rose for you. His resurrection is your resurrection. There is a great gulf of difference between “Christ is a Savior and King” and “Christ is my Savior and King.”

Yet even the Christian conscience, still assaulted by sin, struggles with this notion. Christ’s own disciples scarcely believed that He had risen from the dead. We stand separated from the historic event by 2,000 years, making it even harder to accept. Yet Christ said, “Go and tell my brothers.”[3] Brothers and sisters in Christ, He was speaking of you.

“You have heard in the Passion how Christ let Himself be crucified and buried and how sin and death trampled Him underfoot. Satan and the sins of the world lie on Him in the tomb. Sin, death, and the devil are His lord. Therefore you must look into His tomb and realize that my sins and my death tear Him apart and oppress Him. There the devil regards himself as secure, and the chief priests boast and rejoice: He is gone and will not return.

“But in the instant when they believe Him destroyed, the Lion tears Himself away from sin, death, hell, and the jaws of the devil and rips them to shreds with His teeth. This is our comfort, that Christ comes forth: Death, sin, and the devil cannot hold Him. The sin of the entire world is powerless. When He appears to Mary Magdalene, one sees in Him neither death nor sin nor sadness, but sheer life and joy. There I see that the Lor is mine and treads on the devil. Then I find my sins, torment, and devil where I ought to find them. There is the seed of the woman, who has struck the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15), and says, ‘Death, you shall die; Hell, you shall be defeated!’ Here is the victor.”[4]

It is a Christian art to regard Christ as the One alone whose business it is to deal with our sins. Malformed by sin, our conscience wants to believe that either we can manage sin on our own or that nothing can be done about our sin. In the first case, if we could manage sin on our own, then we have no need for Christ. His death would be in vain, and salvation would be according to your own ability to prove yourself righteous before the Almighty God. You must be perfect as God is perfect. What a silly, self-righteous notion that we could approach God in our filth and demand salvation.

In the second case, despair over your sin, there is nothing you can do. Faced with sin, temptation, plague, and assaults of the devil, you have no recourse…except to abandon what your conscience says and turn to Christ. Look to what He has said and what He has done. Christ did not die and rise for Himself. He gained nothing for Himself. He died and rose again for you, to give you everything that already belonged to Him. He is the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”[5] He took your sins into death and the grave, and there they remain. He rose the spotless lamb, no longer bearing your sins because they remained in the grave. The devil will try to convince you otherwise, but you know the truth – Christ has arisen for you! The deadly power of death is gone for Christ has destroyed it.

When your sins lie on Christ, you can see what they’ve done. They crushed Him on the cross and drove Him deep into the ground. “But because today He comes forth from the grave and remains in honor and glory, everything that the devil, sin, and death have done is destroyed.”[6] This idea is foreign and contrary to human reason, yet the Scriptures still stand. The Scriptures do not lie when they say your sins lie on Christ and if they are on Him, they are not accounted to you. The Christian has no sin and is a lord over sin. This is most certainly true.

And satan cannot stand this. He has a tremendous labor to fight against the resurrection and accuse Christians. We can stare into the very pits of hell and proclaim, “You who have tortured and killed Christ, now you get what you deserve! You thought you had won the victory but your coup de gras did nothing but ensure your defeat. Christ is risen and you are defeated!”

The devil works hard to tear this truth from our hearts. That is why we stand on the truth of the resurrection apart from the thoughts of our hearts. The witness of the God-breathed Scriptures and the objective testimony of history cannot be overthrown. It is true this day just as it was true that first Easter morning. Christ is risen! Alleluia!

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This sermon is inspired by Martin Luther, “Easter Sunday Morning, March 28, 1529: The Resurrection of Christ and Its Meaning,” The 1529 Holy Week and Easter Sermons of Dr. Martin Luther, Translated by Irving L. Sandberg (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1998), 119-127.

[2] This Joyful Eastertide, refrain, LSB 482; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:14, 20.

[3] St. Matthew 28:10.

[4] Luther, “Easter Sunday Morning,” 124.

[5] St. John 1:29.

[6] Luther, “Easter Sunday Morning,” 125.

The Feast of the Resurrection

The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord – March 31, 2024

Psalm 8; Job 19:23-27; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

St. Mark 16:1-20

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Very early in the morning, just about sunrise, three women made their way to the tomb of Jesus. They brought spices to anoint His body, showing how much they loved their Lord. Perhaps it was the grief, sorrow over the death of Jesus, that distracted them from the fact that a large stone had been placed over the entrance to the tomb. Along the way, they realized this problem and grew concerned over how they would get into the tomb to tend to Jesus’ body.

But when they arrived at the tomb, they discovered the stone had been rolled away. The door to the tomb stood open. Inside the tomb, the women did not see the body of Jesus. They saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting where they expected to see Jesus. This man was an angel, sent by God, to inform the women of Jesus’ resurrection.

The women were afraid of the man, but he quickly gave them the reassurance commonly heard from holy angels, “Be not afraid.” The angel knows they are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, and he boldly proclaims, “He is risen! He is not here.” The angel then gives them a job—go tell the disciples, including Peter, to seek the Lord in Galilee as He told you before His death.”

These women quickly fled from the tomb, trembling and afraid. It is somewhat suspicious that our text tells us the women were afraid but not what they are afraid of. We know the Apostles will gather that first Easter evening behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Perhaps the women are also afraid to tell anyone about the resurrection for fear of the Jews. Or, perhaps they are afraid of the angel. This particular angel appeared in the form of a young man, so his appearance would not have been supernaturally frightening. Maybe he spoke with such authority that the women were afraid of his confidence.

Or maybe, the women were afraid of Jesus. Jesus had taught all His disciples very clearly about the necessity of the crucifixion and the resurrection. He even told them that they would scatter. These women, like almost all the disciples, didn’t really understand or truly believe what Jesus had said. Again, maybe their grief was blinding them to reality. So maybe they were afraid that Jesus really had risen and here they are, carrying spices to anoint His dead body—evidence of their lack of faith in Jesus’ words. Whatever the reason, these women choose to disobey the word of the angel by telling no one what they had seen.

But Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb and encountered our Lord. She was the first person to whom Jesus revealed Himself in His resurrected and glorified state. After seeing Jesus, she ran quickly to tell the disciples what she had seen.

Then our Lord appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, walking with them until evening. They did not recognize Him until He agreed to stay with them for a meal. When He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it before them, the eyes of these disciples were opened and they saw the glorified Lord. Immediately, Jesus departed from them. These two disciples then ran quickly to tell the others that they had seen Jesus.

Forty days later and after revealing Himself to many disciples, Jesus gathered with the Eleven on the Mount of the Ascension. He offered to His disciples His final teachings before being received into heaven and sitting at the right hand of the Father:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”[1]

What wonderful words to hear from our risen Savior! Imagine if you truly believed them. Because there are many in error who have taken to dancing with venomous snakes and drinking poison, we are quick to dismiss these words. Those who do such foolish things are tempting God—something Satan tried to get Jesus to do but Jesus refused. Rather than take these things as necessary requirements for faith, something to test out to see if you really have faith, we should see them as flowing naturally from faith.

I said, “Imagine if you truly believed these words.” What I mean is, imagine what it would be like not to be afraid of the Jews, the harsh words of Jesus, your neighbors, your coworkers, your children? What if you believed the words of Scripture to say exactly what they say and lived according to them? What if the next time somebody asked, “Any plans this weekend?” you responded, “Yeah, I’m going to go to church and learn more about Jesus”? They might look at you like you’re crazy. They might laugh at you. So what? It’s true. It should be true.

The Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Almighty Word by which creation came to be, took your sins upon Himself; died the death you deserve so that your sins would be buried deep in the earth; and then rose again to new life so that you would receive eternal life with Him in heaven. Why be ashamed of that? Why be afraid to tell someone about that? Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

Rather, revel in the resurrection of Christ. Enjoy the feast of the resurrection. Celebrate the death of Jesus for you, knowing that because of it, you will see Him with your own two eyes, just as Job proclaimed.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Mark 16:15-18.

In Memoriam + Susan Kay Fields +

In Memoriam + Susan Kay Fields + – November 1, 2022

Psalm 23; Job 19:21-27; Romans 3:19-28

St. Luke 2:25-32

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Although Scripture does not tell us his actual age, it is presumed that Simeon is an old man when he sings the words just read. “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant, depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples.”[1] Presumably many years before, the Lord revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the coming of the Lord’s Christ. When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple, Simeon joyfully took up the child and burst forth in song.

What Simeon is praying for is death. He is praying that God would release him from this veil of tears because the Word of God had been fulfilled. The Savior had been born to save the world from sin. Confident that the Christ had come to forgive his sins, Simeon tells God that he is ready to die in peace.

Be very careful not to misunderstand these words of Simeon. When he asks to depart in peace, Simeon is not asking for a quiet death. He is not praying to fall asleep with a pleasant dream and simply not wake up on this side of glory. The peace in which Simeon prays to depart is peace with God. This peace is only possible with the coming of the Savior, the coming of the Son of God in human flesh, the coming of Jesus Christ.

St. Paul writes that “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in [God’s] sight…for there is no difference; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[2] To be justified in God’s sight is to be declared, to be made, righteous, and yet there is nothing to be done according to the deeds of the law for man to make himself righteous. All have fallen short. All have sinned. All have sinned first through the original sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and then through the sins of your own flesh; sins in thought, word, and deed.

What are these sins? They are the works of the flesh: adultery, fornication, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, wrath, selfishness, dissensions, envy, murder, drunkenness, and the like.[3] Anything that is contrary to the will of God is sin and there is no one who is free from sin. All have fallen short of the glory of God.

Falling short of God’s glory would not present a problem if God was unjust. If God was unfair, unjust, and played by inconsistent rules, then sin would not matter. God would choose those whom He likes, or who please Him, and they would be saved. Those He doesn’t like; they would be damned. But the True and Living God cannot be persuaded. He cannot be bribed. He is not partial and He is not unfair. God is just.

God’s justice means that the only fair punishment for rebelling against His Word is death…eternal death. All sin is worthy of eternal death no matter how slight in your eyes because all sin is a despising of the God who created you. According to God’s justice alone, man does not stand a chance.

The evidence of sin and the consequences thereof lay before us today. Susan died because of sin. Do not misunderstand me, she did not die because God was punishing a specific sin. God is not so petty as to punish a lewd joke with a terrible disease. No; Susan died because she is human and in being human, she has participated in the sins common to all mankind. The wages of sin is death.

Thanks be to God that He is not only just. He is also the justifier of man. What does this mean? It means that God Himself is the one who took on human flesh. It means that God Himself lived a perfect life. He was born without sin because He was born of a virgin, without inheriting the sin of Adam. As Jesus walked through Galilee and Judea, teaching and healing, He was also gathering the sin of man upon His shoulders. When the Pharisees and the mob took Him to Pilate and demanded Jesus be crucified, He humbly submitted to an unjust death.

Where God is perfectly just, man is unjust. Therefore, God submitted Himself to an unjust death. The sins of man that He bore on His shoulders, He carried with Him to the cross. As Jesus Christ breathed out His final breath on the cross, He died the death that every human deserves. He endured the anguish not only of His own torturous death on the cross, but the physical and spiritual torment due to every human at every time and in every place. There is no suffering common to man which our Lord did not endure.

This same Jesus rested in the tomb for three days and then rose again. Christ rose from the dead not only because He is God, but because death had no claim to Him. He had not sinned in any way. The wages of sin is death and He had not earned death. Because of this, Jesus broke the power of death. He broke the chains of death. He ripped the teeth out of the vicious dog.

This is what Jesus means when He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”[4] The death and resurrection of Jesus is the opening of the doorway to eternal life. Death no longer has dominion over those who are in Christ Jesus. Thus, when Simeon prays for a peaceful death, he is not rushing to die. He is not trying to hurry along. He is not looking for a death with dignity. He is asking that God would deliver to him the joys of salvation, that which has been promised to him in the death and resurrection of the Christ.

There was not a moment of Susan’s illness that was not torturous. Aggressive cancer is an ugly sight. It is an ugly sight because it is a visual reminder of the ugliness and the terrible effects of sin. It is the body consuming itself through growth against the will of man and the will of God. How can a just and merciful God allow such suffering, especially to one of His dear children?

Susan was a humble woman. A part of her humility was never bothering to question why God brought her such suffering. Susan’s faith, her trust in God, was an example to us all. And yet, not all of us are capable of such humility. We may question. We may worry.

The 17^th century pastor and hymnwriter, Paul Gerhardt, can help us to understand Susan’s humility, and possibly help us to imitate her great faith:

8    Leave all to His direction;

            In wisdom He doth reign,

      And in a way most wondrous

            His course He will maintain.

      Soon He, His promise keeping,

            With wonder-working skill

      Shall put away the sorrows

            That now thy spirit fill.

9    A while His consolation

            He may to thee deny,

      And seem as though in trial

            He far from thee would fly;

      A while distress and anguish

            May compass thee around,

      Nor to thy supplication

            An answering voice be found.

 

10  But if thou perseverest,

            Thou shalt deliverance find.

      Behold, all unexpected

            He will thy soul unbind

      And from the heavy burden

            Thy heart will soon set free;

      And thou wilt see the blessing

            He had in mind for thee.

 

11  O faithful child of heaven,

            How blessed shalt thou be!

      With songs of glad thanksgiving

            A crown awaiteth thee.

      Into thy hand thy Maker

            Will give the victor’s palm,

      And thou to thy Deliverer

                  Shalt sing a joyous psalm.

(Paul Gerhardt, Commit Whatever Grieves Thee, stanzas 8-11, translation as found in The Lutheran Hymnal. Text is in the public domain.)

On this side of glory, the children of God will continue to suffer because there is sin in the world. There is sin in our flesh. Satan and his demons still lurk in the shadows and still seek to destroy our faith that we would join them in their eternal suffering. And yet God never leaves us alone. What is a lifetime of suffering compared to an eternity of bliss in the presence of Christ? What is a year of cancer compared to an eternity of perfected glory? What is the pain of seeing a loved one suffer compared to an eternity of seeing your Savior with your own two eyes?

We are brought together today because of death. We mourn the loss of Susan because we can no longer reach out and hold her. We can no longer spend evenings talking and laughing together. It is just and right to mourn because death is not good. Death is not the friend of anyone. It is not a part of the circle of life.

However, we also gather today to look forward. We look forward to the day when all who have died will be raised. There will come a day when Christ returns to gather His people as a mother hen gathers her flock. On that day, all who have died in Christ, all who believe in Christ alone for their salvation, all who look to Him as the way, the truth, and the life will be reunited for all eternity. We shall open our eyes and see the face of Christ in glory.

However, on that day, all who do not follow the way, the truth, and the life will also be raised, but they will be raised to everlasting destruction. These will look to the face of Christ and see only judgement. These will only receive the justice of God, a just punishment for their sin. This eternal punishment is far worse than any human can imagine.

It is for this reason that we, like Susan, must rely on Christ. We must go to where He has promised to be—in His Word and Sacraments. We must gather with the church so that our bodies and souls will be fed on the Bread from heaven. We must train our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls to trust on Jesus with everything that we have, praying that He would forgive our sins and strengthen us against the temptations of evil.

For a while, God may deny His consolations, His comforts to you. Susan certainly endured such a while. It may seem as though God is far off while distress and anguish surround you. And yet, if your faith perseveres, that is, if you trust that every act of God is for the good of those that love Him, then you know that He will find a way to bless you. When you least expect it, God will unbind your soul, releasing you from the burden of your sins, from pain and suffering. In Susan’s case, this meant calling her home to His side.

And then, with songs of glad thanksgiving, there will come the day when all His saints shall arise. With crowns of gold and palm branches of victory held high, the saints of God will sing His praises day and night. What a joyous day that will be. What a beautiful sight to behold. And all those who repent and believe in Christ will be there—with angels and archangels, with all the company of heaven, with Susan; and we will laud and magnify the glorious name of Christ forever and ever.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Luke 2:29-30.

[2] Romans 3:20, 22-23.

[3] Galatians 5:19-21.

[4] St. John 14:6.

The First Sunday after Trinity

 In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Since the day of Pentecost, the Church has struggled to understand the interaction between the Old Testament and the New. A very common question is how the saints of the Old Testament were saved before the death and resurrection of Christ. God does not change. This is part of who and what He is. As such, the requirements of salvation are also unchanging. They have existed since the beginning of time at the Creation.

Man is saved by faith in Christ, the Son of God, who takes on human flesh to redeem mankind. Faith is trust in things unseen. God came to Abraham and promised to be his God and to deliver to him an heir of his own flesh and descendants numbering more than the stars of heaven. Abraham believed this word of God and it was counted to him as righteousness, that is, Abraham’s name was written in the Book of Life.[1]

This is the same process by which you have received faith. Whether as an infant or an adult, the Word of God came to you on the lips of man, and you believed it. The Word itself planted faith within your heart. The Holy Spirit watered this seed at the font of Holy Baptism, and it grew into the mighty mustard plant by the further illumination of God’s Word.

The same is true of the beggar Lazarus. St. John Chrysostom lists nine ways in which Lazarus suffered greatly, among which is the uncertainty of the future.[2] In the eyes of man, one who prospers is blessed by God and must be loved by Him. One who suffers must be cursed by God and despised by Him. While Lazarus had certainly heard the promise of the coming Savior, his sickness and poverty must have caused doubt in his mind. He could not afford any sacrifices at the Temple. He could not attend any synagogue or services at the Temple because of his disease. Like all the saints of the Old Testament, Lazarus could only see the coming Savior through the veil of Moses, a dim and distant hope.

While Lazarus had heard of Job’s proclamation of seeing God in his own flesh after his skin is destroyed;[3] and David’s words in Psalm 16: For thou [O Lord] wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption;[4] and the comforting promise of Isaiah that the Lord of hosts will swallow up death forever…wipe away tears from all faces…and it will be said in that day, ‘Behold this is our God; We have waited for Him and He will save us,[5] it is unclear to him just how this salvation will come to him personally.

We have been blessed to live in the days following the Resurrection of Christ. We have been blessed because we have the full revelation of the Word of God. We can call not just upon the coming Messiah, but upon Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. We can hear the Words of God, spoken through the lips of man, which promise that we have been adopted as heirs of heaven, Sons of the Living God, new creations of the Holy Spirit. This confidence brings much hope—although it can still be difficult to retain.

Lazarus experienced poverty beyond imagining. Even crumbs from the table of the rich man were denied to him. His illness was so great, he could not wave away the dogs licking at his sores. He could not move himself to find shelter. Someone left him on the doorstep of the rich man. By this circumstance, in his great poverty and sickness, Lazarus daily watched the rich man feasting, laughing, enjoying company, and participating fully in the life of the synagogue and community.

Yet in the midst of this suffering, Lazarus retained faith in God. He was not saved on account of his poverty but on account of his faith, which was counted to him as righteousness. Despite his eyes being covered in the veil of Moses, Lazarus saw the promise delivered to Abraham and trusted that God above counted him among the stars born to Father Abraham. His mortal eyes caused doubt, but the eyes of faith knew God to be faithful. Lazarus awaited the sleep of death such that his eyes would be opened to the fullness of God.

You, who have the full revelation of the Scriptures, of the Name of Jesus, and the saving work of the cross, you have even greater reason to rejoice and believe in God. You have witnessed the first fruits of the resurrection of all flesh and have been born from above by the waters of Holy Baptism. You have partaken of the victory feast of Christ, fed on His own Body and Blood.

What reason do you then have to worry over pain, sickness, poverty, and death? We, unlike Lazarus, have been clearly told by our Heavenly Father that such suffering is the cross His children bear in this world on account of sin. It is unpleasant. Like Lazarus, you may certainly mourn tragedy and suffering, but you have been freed from the anxiety concerning your salvation. In this way, the saints of the New Testament are free to have more joy and comfort in Christ because we have a fullness the saints of the Old Testament were waiting for.

At the same time, we have a greater duty than the saints of old.[6] It is easy to imagine the precepts of the Old Testament as a great and severe burden, yet the vast majority of these pointed to outward works—either ceremonial or civil law. These laws have been entirely fulfilled in the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The moral law has also been fulfilled by Christ but is an eternal expression of the Will of God.

Christ our Lord says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”[7] Jesus is not changing the Law of God, but He is bringing greater clarity to it. Sin begins in the heart, and it is in the heart that sin will condemn a man.

This is the heart of the parable. The rich man almost certainly was a pillar of the community. He regularly attended the synagogue, but he did this to be seen by others. He heard the Word of God read and preached but he did not believe it. He trusted in the sight of his earthly blessings as the sign of his salvation. Even as he is burning in the torments of hell, the rich man does not beg for mercy or salvation, but commands Lazarus to serve him before insisting on a miracle for the salvation of his brothers. Abraham responds, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”[8]

This Word of God was left on the lobes of his ears and did not enter his heart. Had it entered his heart, he would have shown mercy to poor Lazarus. One cannot hear the glorious news that while you deserve the eternal torments of hell, God has taken this punishment in your place and delivered to you eternal life and salvation, without it necessarily affecting his outward life.

It is this Word of God which delivers the one who has risen from the dead. It is this Word of God that finds its substance in the flesh of Christ, crucified for your sins and risen for your justification. It is this Word of God which enters your heart and enlightens to you the Scriptures. It is this Word of God by which the saints of the Old Testament are saved. It is this Word of God by which you are saved.

Hell is a very real and present danger for all mankind. It is a certainty for all who die without repentance and faith in Christ, but it is still a danger for those who attend the gathering of the Church. It is a danger because the sinful flesh still clings to all of us. The temptations to abandon the faith are many but we have the saints of old, like the beggar Lazarus, to show us how the mercy of God is worked in the world. There was not a single outward reason for Lazarus to thank God for his existence, yet he trusted in the Lord for salvation. At the last, he was born upon the arms of angels to heaven.

You will endure suffering, loss, and temptation. You will endure pain, sickness, and unless the Lord returns, you will die. All of these will be more difficult and harsher for you than the unbeliever because you know man was not created to suffer. However, you have a hope the world cannot give. You know that this suffering and pain is the chastisement of a loving God against sin. You know that loss and sickness are the crosses Christians bear in this world. You know that temptation and death are the wages of sin, but that Christ has defeated your death such that it is now only a portal to eternal life.

Take heart when you suffer for you have a God who can sympathize with your every suffering.[9] You have a God who bears your flesh and knows your pain. You also have brothers and sisters in the faith, stretching from Adam to our own little Judah, who have likewise endured the tribulations of this world but for whom the Lord has given eternal life.

Strengthened by this knowledge, be a light to those around you. If you have been given earthly blessings, share them. You do not need to be counted rich to have a friendly conversation. You do not need to daily feast sumptuously to treat a fellow man to lunch. You do not need an advanced degree in theology to comfort a woman mourning the loss of her father. All you need is Jesus, who has been given to you in the Word of God, by Moses and the Prophets.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Genesis 15:1-6.

[2] St. John Chrysostom, “Discourse I: A Homily delivered at Antioch on the Second Day of the Month,” Four Discourses, Chiefly on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, available at https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chrysostom_four_discourses_01_discourse1.htm accessed June 17, 2022.

[3] Job 19:26-27.

[4] Psalm 16:10 (KJV)

[5] Isaiah 25:8-9.

[6] This thought comes from Gregory the Great, Homily 40 on the Gospels, beginning in section 3. https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/luke-commentary/gregory-the-great-homily-40-on-the-gospels, accessed June 17, 2022.

[7] St. Matthew 5:21-22.

[8] St. Luke 16:31.

[9] Hebrews 4:15.